News 13:00

BULLETIN 16 February 1pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# AfriForum is calling on Eskom and the government to hold municipal officials accountable
# Newly installed UWC vice-chancellor says universities face deep structural challenges
# And, at least 18 people have been killed in a crowd crush at a New Delhi train station

# AfriForum says it demands that Eskom and the national government hold municipal officials accountable for the gross mismanagement of municipal finances, rather than depriving paying residents of basic rights. AfriForum Deidré Steffens says in Free State, corrupt officials are keeping towns in a stranglehold by not settling municipal power debts, but now communities are expected to bear the consequences:

# Newly installed University of the Western Cape rector and vice-chancellor, professor Robert John Balfour, says South African universities face deep structural challenges. Young people are without work, there is endemic hunger, millions of people are without decent homes, and there are frightening levels of violence, and increasing human rights atrocities. Balfour says while South Africans can contribute to assessing those challenges and making suggestions to ameliorate them, no university can, on its own, resolve them:

Meanwhile, University of the Western Cape student representative council president, McIntosh Khasembe, is calling on the newly installed rector and vice-chancellor professor Robert Balfour to prioritise the safety and security of all students. He says students don’t feel safe and supported not only within the classrooms but also on campus. Khasembe says Balfour must make sure that brutalisation is never directed toward students but to criminals:

# At least 18 people, including four children, have died and around ten injured in a crowd crush at a New Delhi railway station in India on Saturday evening. Passengers were trying to board trains heading to Maha Kumbh Mela, the world’s largest religious gathering. Delhi police say the incident happened when delays to two train services and an influx of passengers led to overcrowding. This incident comes weeks after 30 people were killed in a pre-dawn crush at the religious festival, Kumbh Mela, in northern India.

# Golf: Chile’s Joaquin Niemann hit a seven-under-par final round of 65 to claim the LIV Golf Adelaide title in Australia. The 26-year-old finished on 13-under par, three shots clear of Mexican pair Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz. Spain’s David Puig was fourth, four off the pace, and England’s Richard Bland a shot further back. Niemann, who has now won three LIV Golf titles, says the goal now is to win a major:

Stay tuned for more news………….